Adopting A Kitty
by stupideffinrope
Summary: Lucy Cassidy left behind a confined life to seek out adventure. Forgetting her past, she lives for fun and excitement thanks to her very special ability. Often she gets involved with the wrong people and one such encounter puts her directly in the path of a certain group of people, run by a man called Lee Rosen, who know what she is.
1. Chapter 1

**Bonjour guys, I finally got a chance to watch Alphas and I am absolutely in love with it so it struck me to write my own character for it. This kind of an introduction to her because I'm weighing on whether or not to write her into the show's storyline. This takes place before they meet Hicks.**

Every person has a story to tell; perhaps not always from the very beginning and sometimes not all the way to the end. Some people's stories were mostly slow and steady their whole life, perhaps a dramatic event or a whirlwind romance thrown in there, but steady none the less. They lived peaceful lives where unexpected and unpleasant things never or rarely happened and they were content that way while others craved something more. Then there was the other side of the coin where people's lives were a constant storm at sea; wild and unpredictable and even dangerous. They were also either happy to let things spiral crazily around them or they just wanted to get off. If Lucy Cassidy's coin were to be flipped, it would have landed in perfect balance between both sides, even if did occasionally wobble.

Lucy's early years were spent in confusion to begin with, and before she knew it her early teenage life was spent as part of a circus. I'm not being metaphorical either, it was a literal circus. Not the travelling troupe that little kids dream of running away to join, mind you. It was always there, in a little town in Maine, and there it would remain for many years to come after Lucy's time. But it was popular and people gathered from their little vacations to Maine to pay a visit. But for Lucy, seeing all these people only made her want to see more of the outside world. To her, the circus was boring, they never left nor connected with anyone and she wanted adventure. Suffice it to say that circus life had run out of perks for Lucy. So at the age of fifteen she ran away from the circus.

Now almost eighteen, Lucy biggest adventures were about to begin, not that she had been living quietly during those three years in between but that would come to light later. At the very moment, Lucy was in a pinch thanks to her abilities. Surely by now it's obvious that Lucy wasn't a regular person, and it was these abilities that let her stay in the circus in the first place. Lucy Cassidy was an Alpha. Adventure just came with the territory.

"How about you let go before I rip that arm off?" Although bleached blonde hair covered her face from her struggle, Lucy's light brown eyes burned with ferocity that allowed the young man to recoil and look at her in exasperation.

"C'mon, Luce, it was just a bit of fun. I thought you were cool with it" He said, panicking now that her pupils were slowly becoming more like slits-the type a person could see on an animal. He raised his hands "Okay, okay, cool it Tiger. I didn't mean to hurt you"

"John, you lied to me! I said I would do it again as long as you didn't tell anyone what I can do. And now I'm running from cops for a robbery _after_ your buddies forced me use my gifts to threaten those people!" Her eyes became even wilder "We are so through, I can't even begin to describe it to you" Lucy swept the mess of hair from her face and pulled the letter jacket closer around herself with some kind of remorse, it had belonged to one of the poor suckers she had knocked unconscious "I'm through with you and your trashy group, and I'm definitely through with the drugs so if one your little lapdogs comes near me with anything again, I won't hesitate to snap their spine!"

"Baby, I understand you!" Lucy fought the urge to snort loudly as she walked away while John carried on "You know the guys, they get a little carried away! Come back, you've hung with us for so long!"

"Three months John"

"Where the hell are you going, bitch!?"

"To find a new group to hang with, someone worth my time" She was gone with the slam of a door.

x-x-x

Lucy breathed in a deep sigh as she strode across the street, breathing in the New York air. The dramatic departure had sounded perfect only seconds ago but now Lucy found that she was once again on her own. It may have been better without John and his little cronies but at the moment she was also wanted for a robbery that she didn't technically commit and that threw a wrench in her plans. Avoiding cops wasn't going to be so difficult if she put her mind to it but it would slow her down and half of her didn't want another thing to attach itself to her conscience. But what could she do?

New York was such a noisy place, with so many building all around her reaching high into the skies. The thought of being up there and bounding around sent a rush up her spine and she shivered. Now that sounded exciting. And once again, she was demonstrating her lack of focus. She just wanted to find a pack to run with and have some fun. Being on her own was even more fun in ways, but in a place like New York, surrounded by people who all seemed absorbed in their own worlds as they walked unless they were on the lookout for something to take advantage of, her instincts were going off like crazy and that finding a herd or a pack of some kind would be the best idea.

A black car zoomed past her, the beeping of several taxis startling her eyes back down from the sky and to the street. Up ahead, she saw an alleyway coming up. It would be the best way to avoid John in case he grew a pair and decided to come after her. Doing something too fancy wasn't the best idea though which was why she was dismayed as she turned into the alleyway to see a high fence separating her from the other side. Unable to curb her nature to tackle a challenge, she began to let herself go and her mind flew through various images until it landed on a particular creature. Seconds later, she doubled over as her whole spine felt like it was on fire. As if she was convulsing, the young woman's snapped back at an impossible angle.

"Damn" Lucy hissed as she stood up and admired the claws that her nails had rapidly grown into. Even her figure had now changed as she stood hunching forward like she was ready to drop down to all fours. The leather skirt was a little tight for what she wanted to do so clawed hands tore at the material easily. Once there more movement space for her legs, the blonde stood inches from the metal obstacle before her. Grinning, she bent her knees and shot up with such force that one would have to wonder where she had the strength in her little body. The jump was way above the fence and the fall back down was like a rush of butterflies flying through the stomach. Lucy closed her eyes in enjoyment. Somewhere on the way down, she extended her hands so they wrapped around the top of the fence, her claws scratching against the metal to leave deep scrapes. Now that her drop back down was stopped, Lucy used the front of her heels to kick off her legs so they sailed up over the top. Now that they were dropping back down on the other side, she used her arms to push herself off a little and landed gracefully on the other side of the fence, still grinning.

When she opened her eyes, she realised that there was a small old man sitting behind one of the dumpsters that she hadn't noticed earlier and she cringed. So much for not being seen. Giving him a small smile, she said "Been too long since I did that one" And it was true, using the cat had been far too long for her and seemed like her body was forgetting the figure seeing as it hurt so much to change this time. The man only looked meekly on and it was becoming awkward "Okie dokie, I'll not be seeing you again" She tipped her hand to him and darted on, slowly feeling her claws retracting to normal and her spine reforming itself. Within seconds, she was gone into the next street.

Across the street, she saw the entrance to the subway and darted for it. It would only be a little while before the cops found John and his idiotic friends and they would definitely rat her out so she needed to get as far away as possible. The question still remained on how she could clear her name but nothing was coming up; at the moment she was nothing more than another accomplice in a robbery and there was no way that anyone was going to believe what John said about her abilities and the only way she'd be able to show it would be to get caught or turn herself in, neither of which she was planning on doing. How did she always manage to get herself into such situations? Damn her curiosity!

x-x-x

"Stop, stop right now!"

"You've gotta be kidding me, it's only been a day!" Lucy hit her head against glass door of the convenience store while the police officer behind her reached for his gun. She had been so hungry that she had risked coming down from her new rooftop hideout to get some food and the second she did, her luck had proved how bad it was. The guy had come in a few minutes after her and recognised her almost immediately. It looked like they were looking for her harder than she thought, which meant that they had caught John and he pushed all the blame to her. She really hated that guy.

"I said don't move, I'm placing you under arrest"

"I didn't move chubs! Stop panicking" Lucy shrugged before her impulses took over "You wanna see movement? Watch!" She threw the bag of groceries in her arms and the mass of snacks falling all over him, the officer fumbled around for his gun. He heard a smash and looked up to see the girl he had stopped looking at him with animal-like eyes, the appearance of a predator staring down opposition. Shakily, he brought the gun up and fired a shot but before it even had a chance to hit, the girl had jumped. It wasn't human jump, no person could have made it. She had jumped up directly from his sight and a few seconds later crashed down to the floor again. After looking at him for a more seconds, he thought that she might leap at him and attack with those claws. But no attack came, the girl simply turned and ran, jumping right over an oncoming car and landing in a perfect forward roll. Lucy twisted her body backwards so it looked her back had snapped to avoid another car before she spotted what she wanted and shot for it; an alleyway. The officer was now yelling behind her, having regained his senses and she felt another bullet whiz past her head. Up ahead, she saw a crossroad of alleys and to run directly forward to the next street.

Suddenly, a figure shot out of the alley to her right grabbed her around the waist, covering her mouth before her instincts had the time to react as all the focus had been on the cop behind her. She was pulled into the shadows of the small alley and began to struggle, her claws sinking into the arms that were holding her. A deep purr of satisfaction rumbled in her throat as she heard her captor hiss in pain.

"Shh, stop that" The voice sounded male as he breathed in her ear. Lucy didn't remove her claws, ready to continue fighting him until she heard the sloppy footsteps of the cop running into the alleyway after her. Both bodies froze but Lucy refused release the tension in her claws even as the man's blood seeped into his grey hoodie sleeves. Her pursuer finally missed them in the hidden corner and carried on running into the next street. Slowly, the hand over mouth slipped away, closely followed by the one around her waist "Ow, ow, you can let go now" He moved his arms to indicate Lucy's hands.

She tilted her head back and saw that the guy was slightly taller than her, his nose was millimetres above the top of her head. He was a young man, probably around her age, with auburn hair and blue eyes that stood out even in the dark of the alleyway. She couldn't have been that well off considering that his grey hoodie and yellow t-shirt were torn in several places and his jeans were well-worn. The only item of clothing that appeared to be in good condition were his combat boots.

"That's some grip you got there, kitty" He chuckled, flashing a charming smile that warranted a smirk back from her. She really was a sucker for a good smile.

"You should see what else I can do"

"I kinda did, saw how you ditched that lard back there. But you're too predictable" He spread his arms out wide to indicate the space around them "An alleyway, really? How cliche can you get? And if you go for an alleyway, at least know where you're going or you'll be caught in a heartbeat"

Lucy debated on whether or not to trust the guy and moved back slightly "You sound like an expert"

"Know a thing or two about bumping' off cops" He looked down at his boots and Lucy began to catch on.

After a minute of silence, she retracted her claws and once again felt her spine shifting back into place. Shuffling her feet, she muttered "Listen, uh, thanks for that…y'know…"

"Rescue?" He finished off with amusement laced in his tone. Lucy snorted and nodded a silent 'yeah' to him. He extended a hand, with his smile still in place "Name's Elliot Crowe, no relation to the celebrity"

Lucy finally fully laughed and extended her own hand "Lucy Cassidy, current fugitive freak"

Elliot looked at her seriously "You're not a freak. I don't know if you know, but you're not the only one with the ability to do something. I used to know a guy, used to be a friend of mine actually, and he could see through walls. You know, like X-ray vision, that's why I wasn't so shocked when I saw you. That, and I knew I had to help you"

Lucy was reeling, she had been on the move so rapidly in the past three years that she had never met someone who could do what she could. And now, she found that there were others who had abilities of their own, and even better was that Elliot knew about them! She was now so intrigued that she wanted to know more about it. She gripped Elliot's upper arm, a look of awe on her face "You know more people like me? More people that have a gift too?"

"Gift?" Elliot raised his eyebrows "I never heard Michael call it a gift. I only ever knew him but I heard rumours, you know? If you're in the right circles here in New York, you hear things. So I guess you're not the only one. But Michael was the only person I knew personally and he's not here anymore…He was taken away and I ain't seen him since" At this, Lucy stepped back with suspicion.

"Taken by who?"

"I don't know, I just haven't seen him for months now"

Lucy ran a hand through her hair and bit her lip, taking yet another leap of faith and deciding that she could trust this guy "Elliot, do you know anywhere I could possibly meet someone like me? There's so much I don't know" There was a hint of desperation in her eyes that she wasn't sure that Elliot could see but she carried on talking "Please, I need to know"

Elliot looked uneasy "There is a place but it's not easy to get access, they're big on security because it's a really popular A-list joint but I've heard that's where a couple of these people also hang out. I've never been in but I could probably figure out a way to get us in. It's just that it'll take a little time, if you really want to. Not exactly the best thing for a girl on the run to do"

"I don't care, this is the closest I've ever come to understanding what I am!" Lucy began to feel excitement bubbling inside of her "It's like you're the hero people find in the most unexpected place!"

"Easy now, hitting on me isn't going to the process any quicker" Eliiot flicked a few strands of hair from his eyes in what he must have thought to be a seductive manner and Lucy quirked her eyebrows to hide a grin "Not that sexy, huh? Dang, I gotta work on my moves if I'm to sweep you off your feet before I get you into that club. Speaking of which, how old are you?"

"Seventeen"

"This is gonna be more difficult than I thought"

x-x-x

Minutes later, what seemed to be a cute couple got on the subway, chattering away. One was a young man with slightly tattered clothes but a gorgeous face and red hair, accompanied by a girl in a letter jacket with a slightly ripped skirt, patterned tights and black high heels. Her hair was obviously bleached and her roots were beginning to show. In fact, the girl's roots seemed to the subject of some kind of joke shared between the two towards the end of the journey. After the train had pulled into a station that was bustling with people, the guy put his arm around the girl and hugged her close to his chest as they walked past the security in the station. To everyone they just looked like teenagers in love but this was the funny little cliche way that they improvised from getting caught by police.

Lucy Cassidy was being led to some kind of building that looked run down and abandoned across the street from a bank. Inside was about as impressive as the outside, apart from the small TV and couch that were placed randomly in one of the rooms. Elliot had informed her that this was where he 'lived' along with some friends but they were all currently out on jobs to get things to eat that night. In fact, that was what he had been doing too when he ran into her and he needed to get something before the others came back so he offered for her to sit and wait while he quickly ran out to steal something to eat. Lucy only settled herself onto the couch and turned on the TV, having no trouble getting comfortable.

x-x-x

Bill Harken looked at Doctor Rosen in surprise. The good doctor had just come in and told them all that they were looking for a robber who helped a group of caught criminals "So let me get this straight; we're looking for a thief after the others were caught and everything was taken back? Thieves aren't really our type of thing, are they?"

"Precisely Bill. We simply find Alphas and attempt to help them" Dr. Rosen nodded, setting down a picture on the table. It showed a close up of a young girl with hair that was obviously bleached and her roots coming through and light hazel eyes that seemed a little odd "This is our thief, her name and origins are unknown but according to one of the captured thieves, she was leader of the crime and her name is Lucy Cassidy. He failed to provide any more than that. That's what I want you to work on Gary"

Gary Bell, the autistic young man from the group, barely looked up from the image and he wasn't the only one. Rachel Pirzad was immediately using her ability to at the image in more detail. The closer she looked, the more she realised what Dr. Rosen was indicating. The young woman looked up to the other female of the team, Nina Theroux "She's an Alpha"

"Then what's her ability?" Nina looked back to Dr. Rosen. She had been with Dr. Rosen for a long time and was beginning to understand that look in his eyes. He seemed worried about something, more so than normally when going after an Alpha.

"I have no idea" Dr. Rosen said gravely and everyone looked slightly worried, except Gary who had simply finally looked up from the image of the girl after memorising her face and began to search what he could find of her, his hands being the only indication that he was looking at wavelengths. Dr. Rosen continued "The man that the authorities seized wasn't very useful as he just kept saying that she was a freak. That was our first indication. About twelve hours later, an officer reported in claiming to have seen her and chased her…after he witnessed her jumping more than twenty feet in the air and avoiding cars like, and I quote, 'some kind of crazy Matrix chick'" The professor finished off, looking at Bill when he chuckled.

"I'm not allowed to watch that movie" Gary commented "It's bad, it's a bad movie"

"No Gary, it's not a bad movie" Nina sighed "It's just a really bad reference to make"

"I-I didn't really like the movie" Rachel spoke up timidly "It messed too much with my head"

"Hello, people, focus" Bill clapped his hands, still feeling the surge of order he did in the FBI. He himself had only been with this group for a couple of weeks and found that it was a miracle that they ever got anything done.

"Yes, I believe that Bill is right. We have an identified Alpha with unknown abilities on the loose" Dr. Rosen continued "We have to find her and we have to assume that she's dangerous"

x-x-x

**Ta-Dah! What do you guys think?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay guys I re-read the first chapter and I realised the amount of mistakes I made so I promise to do better and I'll replace the other chapter when I have time too. But thank you for taking the time to read this anyway and I hope you enjoy it!**

x-x-x

"You know sneaking into a nightclub has never really been on the top of my priority list and now I wonder why" A brightly coloured leaflet lay next to Lucy's feet after she had read the advertisement for the latest event happening in the Lotus nightclub. It seemed the sort of place that would turn their nose to anything other than 'A-List' as Elliot liked to describe it. It seemed like they had a swanky event happening that very evening and Elliot and Jodie thought it was a great time to try and get her in.

"Well I don't know why you'd wanna spend time with a bunch of people who probably have a stick the size of a javelin stuck up their ass" Jodie shrugged. Jodie Lance was the same age as Elliot, a twenty two year old outcast of the New York streets and Lucy had the pleasure of meeting her a few hours ago. With dark skin and large brown eyes, Jodie had an elegance about her that couldn't be explained. Of course, that elegance dimmed as soon as she opened her mouth and started talking. Their other friend James chuckled at her comment. James was the closest in age to Lucy, just a few months younger in fact. He had blonde hair that was close to a sandy tone and his face was youthful and boyish.

"Look, there's someone in there that Lucy needs to meet" Elliot cut in, looking pleadingly at Jodie who apparently had the connections to get Lucy the correct identification by night. But she didn't look convinced as to why they should help the stranger sitting in their run down and illegal home. So Elliot tried once again "I can't explain how, but she's like Michael was" This on the other hand had struck a chord with Jodie.

"Seriously? And you want to send her in to see the same people he tried to find right before he disappeared?" Disbelief washed over the woman's face and she began to walk towards the door.

Lucy's heart sank slightly. Because she never really thought of why she was the way that she was, she never went looking for answers. In her mind, she was just a freak of nature; someone who jumped a few bad genes. But now that she had heard that she wasn't the only so called freak, her curiosity was peaking. Unsure of what she was expecting to gain from it, Lucy felt her instincts telling her that finding people like her would somehow help her from her current predicament. After all, she was still wanted for a robbery. She was desperate to get out of that situation that she failed to comprehend that someone like her had gone missing going to find the very same people that she was after.

"Jodie, come on! Michael would've helped her in a heartbeat!" Elliot yelled after her only to get a door slam in response. He ran his hand through his hair several times as if in deep thought. There was frustration evident on his face but the worried angle of his eyebrows told of some kind of concern too. He sighed and sent a smile to Lucy "Look I'm gonna go and talk to her. I'll get her to help" With that said, he left right after Jodie.

"Do I wanna know what's going on here?" Lucy twirled a piece of blonde hair around her finger, feeling the slight damage that the bleach had done over time. The only other person in the room, James, gave her an answer regardless of whether she wanted one or not.

"Michael was Jodie's boyfriend" It was a few simple words but they explained an awful lot to Lucy. These three people, or four as it appeared they used to be, were a close pack; a true pack. Lucy had run with several groups of people and most of them were in for personal reasons; to take advantage of others' strengths, to survive etc. But there were groups that wanted to be together and took great care of each other. Those were the ones she liked to think of as true packs. Sadly, she hadn't found one that she trusted herself to run with yet.

"Don't worry" James said after looking at her face carefully for a few minutes "If anyone can convince Jodie to change her mind, it's Elliot. As for his habit of picking up strays…" He looked her up and down "Well, she's used to it too"

Lucy could only grin in response "Meow"

x-x-x

"Girl sure likes her snacks" Bill examined the contents of the bag that had been dropped by their target.

"She does drugs"

"What, Gary?" Bill echoed everyone's thoughts as they looked at his sudden reasoning. He had only worked with him for a little while but the young man kept on saying surprising things and Bill found that he didn't understand Gary Bell at all. Not that he understood any of them all that well anyway; Rachel was oddly timid and honestly awkward. Whereas Nina was the total opposite and he wondered how someone who liked spending money so much had the time to come in and earn it. He suspected that she didn't.

"No Gary, I'm pretty sure she's not doing drugs" Dr. Rosen chuckled. And here was the man that led the group of bizarre people. Except he wasn't all that bizarre apart from the fact that he was a lot more active than most men his age. Perhaps it was the knowing look in his eyes - the one that said he'd been dealing with this sort of thing for a long time which set him apart. Maybe it was a similar feeling from the whole group, the dealing of a problem, that made them _feel_ different because if an ordinary person were to look at them then they wouldn't see anything abnormal.

Bill handed the bag over to Rachel who immediately entered a trance and stopped paying attention to the rest of the conversation "What, not even any kind of steroids? If the girl's not on steroids, just what kind of an ability has she got? I mean, Lee" He looked the doctor directly in the eyes "have you ever seen anything like it?"

"Not exactly, but I do have a few theories about what it might be. U-Unfortunately, we won't know for sure until we actually speak to her" Rosen took off his glasses and wiped them.

"I was afraid you were going to say that" Bill mumbled.

Nina turned back from the police officer she had pushed to give her details of when he saw the girl, having been at the scene for a while as he stumbled on his own account until finally Nina just pushed him to give her straight answers "He says the last time he saw her was running into that alleyway and he just lost track of her. It was like she just disappeared. Unless she pulled another Matrix routine" Nina rolled her eyes.

"No, no. The Matrix was a movie, she's not from a movie. You're wrong Nina" Gary paused briefly before continuing looking into what looked like thin air and flicking his hands as he carried on searching for anything on the Lucy Cassidy they were after. There had been nothing so far and the group was beginning to suspect that the name given to the authorities by the man caught was a fake that she had been using. It began to irritate Gary slightly that it was proving to be so difficult.

Rachel and Bill followed the directions of the police officer into the alleyway he had been talking about to see what they could find while Nina and Rosen stayed with Gary and asked other people who lived in the area if they had seen anything. Rachel was now using her nose to try and find anything that stood out among the usual smells one would encounter "Oh, I definitely smell that police officer's sweat here recently" Rachel's nose twitched in disgust, it was fresh between the various stale smells "And I think I can smell the girl. It's like a mix between bleached or damaged hair, junk food and exotic"

Bill raised his eyebrow "Exotic?"

Rachel waved her hands in front of her in a small semblance of frustration "You know, like when you go to safari zoos or hot climate botanical gardens? It's kind of like a rainforest smell, like nature…like animals? But it's not a stink" Even Rachel sounded puzzled by her explanation "But it's definitely her. She stopped here" Rachel halted in her tracks "And there's another smell mixed here now too. Someone apart from the officer was here. I can't tell how old they were but they were definitely male. Someone who doesn't bathe often" Rachel's nose twitched again "And he smells a lot like leather. They hid here for a while" Rachel pointed to a dark turn in the alleyway "And then their scent follows the way the officer left. After that, I don't think I could find them mixed in with all the other people"

It was disappointing not to be able to find her all the way to where she was currently hiding but Bill had enough sensitivity in him to accept that Rachel was not a sniffer dog. But at least now they knew that there was someone who was helping her.

Meanwhile, Nina thought she found something when she questioned one of the people who lived across the street from the store. She was an elderly woman who had seen the girl arrive late at night when she had been out on a stroll. Apparently the girl didn't even make a sound as she walked and scared the poor old woman for which she apologised profusely. "A sweet girl, it seemed" the woman had said.

But it was Gary that had finally found something. Although it wasn't anything on the girl's identity, it did help them in the present. He had found a camera in a subway station that had caught her face for a few seconds on camera as she walked huddled together with a young man with red hair. Fortunately, his identity was easy enough to enough to discover. Soon, they were looking for where they could find a young man named Elliot Crowe.

x-x-x

Jodie and Lucy had been staring into each other's eyes for several seconds now. Elliot's eyes bounced back and forth between them, waiting for one of them to speak first. When neither did, he sighed and cut in "It's a fair deal right? We get Lucy in and when she meets the people that she wants, she finds out what she can about what happened to Michael" Still there was nothing said "I'm gonna take your silence for a yes because I'm dealing with whatever drama is going on here"

It was Lucy who broke the daring game between the two of them "You really cared about him, huh?"

Jodie scoffed "What do you think? C'mon, kid, you've lived this kind of life for a while too so you should know; it's hard to find someone who cares about more than themselves, much less caring for a whole group of people. But Michael did that and more, he looked out for anyone that lived the same life as us, even if he didn't know them. And the one time it counted, I couldn't help him. If you're really someone like him, I'll help but you gotta keep your end of the deal too"

Lucy folded her arms "You don't have to worry about that, I won't forget to find out what I can. You just get me into that place tonight" Lucy looked into the eyes of the taller female fiercely one more time before she stepped down "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and borrow something to wear"

There was the sound of a door opening. Everyone turned to see Elliot holding it open with a grin on his face "Normally, shopping is not my kind of thing but a friend of mine has agreed to let you pick something out from her store. You'd better appreciate this because it was not easy to pull this favour and I had to agree to a date with her sister before she finally agreed"

The street was as busy as it had been before just as the evening was setting in. The streets were packed with people rushing home from work. The urge to simply run and get lost in the crowd to forget all the worries in her mind were hard to resist. However, for the first time ever she was eager to come to grips with what she really was, so all the fuss was worth whatever they were doing. If all went according to plan, Jodie would have some fake I.D for her in a few hours. The real trick was to try and make Lucy look like she belonged. Which was where the store they approached came into play.

It was a small boutique that stood between a hair salon and an Indian takeout. It was the interior of the place that was the real eye-catcher; clinically white and lit with soft lamps from the floor and ceiling, there were dresses hanging solely on hangers and others were adorned on mannequins to pronounce their beauty. An array of shoes were arranged in glass along one wall of the room. It looked like the sort of store a main character in a Hollywood movie would go into.

"How do you even know someone like this?" Lucy gaped at the dress in front of her, as well as the price on it.

Elliot chuckled "Let's say that she didn't always own this place and I helped her out a lot back then" His hands skimmed over several dresses hanging in a row, feeling the fabric on his skin. He stopped at one in particular "How about this one? I think lilac would look good on you"

"Of course it would, most things look good on me" The girl smirked and examined the dress that Elliot suggested. It was indeed nice, silky and dropping all the way down to the floor in soft waves. The top half of it was encrusted with shimmering clear stones in a 'T' shape. Then she looked at the price and choked "Yeah, the numbers on it are pretty too"

"Relax. She said you could borrow any one you want and as long as you don't damage it, you bring it back with no payment. You can even pick out a pair of shoes if you want. Something that'll make you a little taller maybe"

"Yeah, yeah I know, I'm seventeen but my height says fifteen. Don't worry, I'll pull on some classier makeup and slip on some heels and I'll look twenty. But what about my hair?" Lucy pointed to her dark roots. It didn't quite support the 'superior' look that she was aiming for. Bleaching it again was the obvious answer but there wasn't enough time anymore. The idea to wear a hat wasn't the best one either.

"Don't worry about that, we'll get James to do something with it to make it look better and then they won't even notice anything. Believe me, he knows what he's doing when it comes to hair. You didn't really think that was his natural hair colour, did you?" Elliot said in response to her baffled look "I have friends that like to show off too, ya'know" He must have thought he was being charming again because he flashed Lucy that same cheesy seductive look that he had in the alleyway which only made the girl sigh. It was hard to tell if he was actually attracted to her or whether he just liked to joke around a lot but she certainly liked the ease with which they could talk.

"So Jodie, she doesn't really like me, does she?" Lucy asked casually while looking at the shoes she could wear with the dress. There was a small hint of disappointment in her voice as she asked this. The girl couldn't describe it but unless she decided she didn't like a person, it affected her if they didn't like her back. Generally, she found it was easier to be liked.

"Nah, not really"

x-x-x

It was now completely dark and Lucy was twirling the fake I.D that Jodie had handed to her about half an hour before. After they had picked out some shoes for the dress, she and Elliot had hurried back to James so he could do some magic with some hair bands and hair spray that they subtly stole from a store on the way back. Whatever the young man did, it was a miracle as Lucy's bleached hair was now up in a bun with small pieces falling from it to stop it from looking too uptight. And although her roots were visible, she felt like the hairstyle was enough of a distraction. There was no jewellery for them to use but the dress covered one of her shoulders and she felt like it was enough. Still, she couldn't fight the nerves.

Ahead of her, the line was slowly getting shorter as the bouncer at the door examined everyone. Her whole body was screaming at her that this wasn't going to work (that, and that the guy standing behind her was eyeing her up but she chose to ignore it). Turning around, she saw Elliot sitting on the other side of the street on a pair of steps. It was agreed that he couldn't get in too and Lucy was left to go in alone after they all gave her tips on how to act - or at least Elliot and James did as Jodie's only advice was 'act like everyone around you is a piece of crap'. Despite this, Elliot swore that he would keep an eye on her while she waited and would then wait for her to come out in case something went wrong.

Flashing her new friend one more small smile, Lucy came face to face with the bouncer at last. Her hands steadied under her will as they handed the towering being her I.D. By all standards, it was now believable that she was twenty one years old and that she was named Amy Capri. The feeling wasn't even paranoia though, as there was a camera right behind the bouncer facing her directly. Lucy did her best to avoid looking right into it and instead smiled at the bouncer. He had been quiet for a few seconds as he looked from her I.D to her face, back to it and then once more at her. Just when Lucy thought that they had been caught out, he moved aside and let her through.

The inside was also like a movie; there was a large bar directly in the centre with winding stairs in each corner going to lavish seating areas and the rest of the room acted as a dance floor. Strobe lights flashed from the ceiling, occasionally casting the room into complete darkness. There were some doors that no doubt led to more rooms similar to this one and bathrooms. Although it had only been open for an hour or two, the place was already piling up with wealthy people looking to socialise and spend their money on outrageously expensive drinks.

But it now occurred to her that she had no idea how she was supposed to find the people she was looking for. The only thing that Elliot had heard was that they liked to hang around by the bar. Unfortunately, there were already crowds of people sitting down and ordering something. Taking a deep breath, she followed them and began to listen in on what the people around her were saying. All she could hear was conversations about stock markets and the latest house parties being held that week. There were even people discussing new homes they had bought in the Hamptons but no-one with a conversation remotely similar to what she was looking for.

Lucy must have been hanging around the bar for about an hour before she finally felt a shiver run up her spine. She couldn't quite describe it but she felt like a lion that spots it's prey. Somewhere close by were the people that she was looking for. It was like feeling their presence, they felt different to the others in there. Now that she really thought about it, she had felt a similar feeling once or twice before when she had been moving around. She must have passed people similar to her before and just not been aware of it since she thought she was the only one like her. Her head spun around and she spotted a middle aged man in a blue suit chatting to a woman of similar age. As if they too knew, both of their heads looked at her at the same time. Fighting half of herself that said it seemed dangerous, Lucy began to approach them.

"So my wife was right" The man whispered to her with a smile appearing on his face "She said that she felt you here tonight"

"Felt?" Lucy raised her eyebrows at the woman "So you do have abilities?"

"Indeed" She nodded, showing off her radiant smile "My husband and I both have our own abilities. I'm able to sense others like us and call out to them, much like I did to you. Why do you think you found us? Although I must say, your own ability helped with that somehow; I've never seen anyone react to it so quickly" The woman paused as if waiting for Lucy to somehow confirm but when she didn't, the woman carried on "My husband's isn't flashy either as he can erase people's short-term memories. We're Mira and Robert Philips. Now my dear, who are you and how did you find out about us?"

Lucy hesitated and answered "My name is Lucy Cassidy. I just found out about there being other people with abilities and I wanted to meet someone. I just heard rumours about there being some in this club if people wanted to hire them"

Mr. Philips crossed his arms and looked serious "Hmm, looks like I forgot to erase someone's memory. Oh no, don't worry, we generally only erase our clients' memories…you know, people who aren't like us" He waved his hands but Lucy was certain not to let her guard down around these people. Something told her that is she did, she would end up as one of those people that they took care of.

"Or it could have something to do with a guy named Michael who was coming to see you. He disappeared and his friends became concerned so I guess rumours spread"

The Philips looked between each other at this and Lucy understood that something was wrong "We've never met a guy named Michael here" Mira frowned "Sweetie, you don't suppose it's that guy who never showed, do you? We thought someone was just messing around with us a few months ago. It had us really concerned"

Robert nodded "It could be, didn't you say you sensed some new Alphas around that night?" Alphas? Lucy had just been about to ask what on earth an Alpha was when she noticed that Mira had stiffened and was staring at the entrance. Robert noticed it too "Honey, what's wrong?"

"I don't believe this, I can feel the same ones here from that night. They're coming in. Are you with them?" She shot angrily at Lucy "This was all some kind of trap, wasn't it?!" The woman hissed and grabbed Lucy by her shoulders, catching the attention of the people around them. Many began whispering to each other and backing away.

"What?"

"Mira, now's not the time, we can't be spotted. I can see a group that just came in" Surely enough, just after Robert spoke, Lucy's own instincts spiked and she swung her head around to the door. A large group had entered together, led by a black man in a suit and a white woman with brown hair, both of whom were darting their eyes around wildly. Quickly enough, they spotted what looked like a commotion and began making their way to Lucy and the Philips.

"We have to get out of here" Lucy looked back at Mira who had yet to let go. If she had to, Lucy could easily force herself out of it but she wanted to give Mira a chance. Suddenly, her body told her that danger was even closer than she thought when she felt a horrible burning sensation on the back of her neck. She only had enough time to see that the hand belonged to Robert Philips before darkness surrounded her and she felt herself collide with something cold. The last thing she heard was Robert calling for his wife to run as quickly as possible, then silence followed the darkness and she lost all thought.


End file.
